May 11, 2018

Off the Top of My Head

California to Require All New Homes to be Built with Solar

by John Lawrence, May 11, 2018

California is serious about fighting global warming even if the US under Trump isn't. All new homes will have to be built with solar panels within two years. That is a remarkable achievement and a spit in the face to Trump and his fossil fuel loving boys. While the US Federal government is doing everything it can to sell more gas and oil and pollute the atmosphere even more, California is becoming the leader in the effort to stop global warming. Trump has even threatened to sue California over its strict standards on tailpipe emissions. The car manufacturers don't want to have to build more electric cars. California is demanding that they do just that if they want to sell them in California.

In homes and cars California is leading the way in solarization and electrification. You see more hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars on the road today. It's almost mandatory for taxis, Lyft and Uber drivers to drive hybrids or spend a fortune on gas with conventional gas powered vehicles. There are even a fair number of Teslas on the road which consume no gas and emit no carbon dioxide or other pollutants from their tail pipes. These are very promising developments. They show the rest of the world that, even though the US at the Federal level is going backward and retrogressing, some states within the US are moving forward and are more in sync with progressive forces, goals and ideals in the rest of the world.

The new requirement will add cost to the purchase of a new home, but the home buyers will save enormously on their energy bills. California energy companies such as San Diego Gas and Electric, Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison are not happy. Their revenues will decline. Revenues for Shell, Exxon and Chevron will also decline, but gas and electric companies will continue to make big bucks in the red states where they glorify the internal combustion engine and would not be caught dead driving a Prius.

The new requirement, to take effect in two years, brings solar power into the mainstream in a way it has never been until now. It will add thousands of dollars to the cost of home when a shortage of affordable housing is one of California’s most pressing issues.

That made the relative ease of its approval — in a unanimous vote by the five-member California Energy Commission before a standing-room crowd, with little debate — all the more remarkable.

“This adoption of these standards represents a quantum leap,” Bob Raymer, senior engineer for the California Building Industry Association, said during the public comments before the vote. “You can bet every state will be watching to see what happens.”

Several California cities have required that some new buildings include solar power, or have made commitments to 100 percent clean energy through various sources. New Jersey, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., have also considered legislation to require that new buildings be solar-ready, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. And Hawaii is among the states that have mandated other energy-efficiency measures, like solar water heaters.

But California’s move is by far the boldest and most consequential of any.

California law requires at least 50 percent of the state’s electricity to come from noncarbon-producing sources by 2030. Solar power has increasingly become a driver in the growth of the state’s alternative energy production.

And a new rate structure coming next year will charge California customers based on the time of day they use electricity. So homeowners with energy-efficiency features — a battery in particular, allowing energy to be stored for when it is most efficiently used — will avoid higher costs.

“Any additional amount in the mortgage is more than offset,” said Andrew McAllister, an Energy Commission member who led a building-code review that produced the proposal. “It’s good for the customer.”

Three cheers for California, the most progressive state in the union. I'm glad and proud that I'm a resident here. California is not perfect by any means, but we are going in the right direction. God bless California. With all the negative news in the world today, California is a bright light showing that there is still hope for civilization. Now if the US as a nation and especially at the Federal level could get on board with California and get rid of their regressive mentality, there might still be hope for the US as a nation.

Comments

Off the Top of My Head

California to Require All New Homes to be Built with Solar

by John Lawrence, May 11, 2018

California is serious about fighting global warming even if the US under Trump isn't. All new homes will have to be built with solar panels within two years. That is a remarkable achievement and a spit in the face to Trump and his fossil fuel loving boys. While the US Federal government is doing everything it can to sell more gas and oil and pollute the atmosphere even more, California is becoming the leader in the effort to stop global warming. Trump has even threatened to sue California over its strict standards on tailpipe emissions. The car manufacturers don't want to have to build more electric cars. California is demanding that they do just that if they want to sell them in California.

In homes and cars California is leading the way in solarization and electrification. You see more hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars on the road today. It's almost mandatory for taxis, Lyft and Uber drivers to drive hybrids or spend a fortune on gas with conventional gas powered vehicles. There are even a fair number of Teslas on the road which consume no gas and emit no carbon dioxide or other pollutants from their tail pipes. These are very promising developments. They show the rest of the world that, even though the US at the Federal level is going backward and retrogressing, some states within the US are moving forward and are more in sync with progressive forces, goals and ideals in the rest of the world.

The new requirement will add cost to the purchase of a new home, but the home buyers will save enormously on their energy bills. California energy companies such as San Diego Gas and Electric, Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison are not happy. Their revenues will decline. Revenues for Shell, Exxon and Chevron will also decline, but gas and electric companies will continue to make big bucks in the red states where they glorify the internal combustion engine and would not be caught dead driving a Prius.

The new requirement, to take effect in two years, brings solar power into the mainstream in a way it has never been until now. It will add thousands of dollars to the cost of home when a shortage of affordable housing is one of California’s most pressing issues.

That made the relative ease of its approval — in a unanimous vote by the five-member California Energy Commission before a standing-room crowd, with little debate — all the more remarkable.

“This adoption of these standards represents a quantum leap,” Bob Raymer, senior engineer for the California Building Industry Association, said during the public comments before the vote. “You can bet every state will be watching to see what happens.”

Several California cities have required that some new buildings include solar power, or have made commitments to 100 percent clean energy through various sources. New Jersey, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., have also considered legislation to require that new buildings be solar-ready, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. And Hawaii is among the states that have mandated other energy-efficiency measures, like solar water heaters.

But California’s move is by far the boldest and most consequential of any.

California law requires at least 50 percent of the state’s electricity to come from noncarbon-producing sources by 2030. Solar power has increasingly become a driver in the growth of the state’s alternative energy production.

And a new rate structure coming next year will charge California customers based on the time of day they use electricity. So homeowners with energy-efficiency features — a battery in particular, allowing energy to be stored for when it is most efficiently used — will avoid higher costs.

“Any additional amount in the mortgage is more than offset,” said Andrew McAllister, an Energy Commission member who led a building-code review that produced the proposal. “It’s good for the customer.”

Three cheers for California, the most progressive state in the union. I'm glad and proud that I'm a resident here. California is not perfect by any means, but we are going in the right direction. God bless California. With all the negative news in the world today, California is a bright light showing that there is still hope for civilization. Now if the US as a nation and especially at the Federal level could get on board with California and get rid of their regressive mentality, there might still be hope for the US as a nation.